Sunday ; Palm Springs, California to Quartzsite, Arizona
New Year's Day ; Happy New Year / Bonne Heureuse Année / Prospero Año Nuevo
Mostly sunny and mild during the day, cold in the evening.
This morning Joanne and I left Aqua Caliente Casino and drove to the nearby Flying J to refill Elsie's freshwater tank. From there we drove to Harbor Freight in Cathedral City to buy some advertised specials. GEE ... I wish the Yuma Harbor Freight store was as large and nice as the Palm Springs Harbor Freight store in Cathedral City. We returned to Aqua Caliente Casino to meet up with Laszlo and Gail for departure to Quartzsite. They had slept in.
With Laszlo in the lead in their rig we drove east on Interstate 10 all the way to the California / Arizona border and slightly beyond to Blythe where we stopped in a shopping mall parking lot to have a very late lunch. After lunch I took the lead driving position for the remaining short distance to Quartzsite where we turned north on
Hwy. 95 for a few miles to the Hi Jolly BLM unserviced campground. We found a nice boondocking spot with a lovely rock "fireplace" to have a campfire. While Joanne, Laszlo, and Gail went for a walk in the desert with Bo and DeeOJee, I did a battery maintenance task on Elsie's "house" battery.
In the nice rock "fireplace" at our desert boondocking spot I lit a campfire at dusk. Laszlo, Gail, and I shared ( half ) a bottle of Plumiscuous, a plum wine made by Forbidden Fruit Winery in our neighbourhood back home in BC. Joanne and I had received the bottle as a gift last summer. Joanne had an upset stomach today so she did not have any of the wine. Her upset stomach was likely caused by too much champagne with dinner last night. She prepared foil wrapped packages of chicken thigh meat, potatoes, onions and carrots. Gail prepared a date salad with Medjool dates she bought yesterday at a produce stand at the College Of The Desert Street Fair. I cooked the chicken and vegetable packets to absolute perfection over the campfire while we all sat around the campfire and chatted. Well done, Daniel ! Most times my campfire cooked meals are cooked well. Occasionally they are cooked perfectly ! Tonight was one of those !
We ate supper inside Laszlo's and Gail's trailer then returned outside for more sitting around the campfire for another hour or so after supper until it became too cold to remain outdoors around a dying campfire. BRRRRR !
Monday ; Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona
Cloudy and chilly.
This morning Laszlo and Gail were feeling ill with colds, so did not want to join us for some Quartzsite flea market shopping as planned. Joanne and I drove south a few miles on Hwy. 95 from Hi Jolly BLM campground to the town of Quartzsite. We shopped for about an hour in the flea markets. I got tired and went back to the camper to nap with Bo while Joanne continued shopping for about another hour.
We continued south on Hwy. 95 towards Yuma, stopping about halfway home, pulling off the road into the desert to have lunch in the camper. We arrived home about 4:15 PM. While Joanne unloaded food and clothing from the camper I went to have a long nap. I, too, wasn't feeling well today.
This evening I worked online, getting caught up on e-mail, downloading month end and year end bank statements and investment statements, and posting my blog entry. We watched the premiere episode of Celebrity Apprentice with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the boss.
Tuesday ; Cloudy and cool.
This morning we headed out to run some errands. First stop was the 76 Fuel Bar on the northwest side of "The Big Curve" where 32nd St. merges into 4th Ave., to use their sani-dump station to dump Elsie's waste holding tanks. From there we drove over to Fry's Fuel Bar and refilled Lanoire with diesel. We headed south out of Yuma on Avenue B / Hwy. 95 to Somerton to pick up Obie at Yepez Automotive Repair.
We had left Obie at Yepez Automotive Repair for the last week, while we went to Palm Springs. They replaced the upper ball joints and idler arm. The bill was very reasonable. I plan to have more repair work done there in the future. Joanne drove Obie home, following me in the truck and camper.
In mid-afternoon we headed to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. I got bit by a ****ing little Chihuahua. In the years that I have been dog walking at the Humane Society of Yuma, this is only the second time that I've been bit. And both times were by Chihuahuas ! When we returned home we took Bo for a two lap walk around the dog park. Joanne went grocery shopping at Albertsons. I went bicycling at dusk. I bumped into Laszlo and Gail, and chatted with them for awhile. They’re feeling very ill with colds.
Wednesday ; Sunny and mild. Joanne cooked a sausage, potato, and cheese dish in the Sun Oven today.
This morning I took care of routine household chores. This afternoon Joanne and I both worked on Elsie ( the truck camper ). Joanne did cleaning work, inside and out.
I removed the water heater sacrificial anode plug, cleaned mineral deposits off it, flushed mineral deposits out of the water heater's interior, then reinstalled the sacrificial anode plug. That's an annual chore. I also removed the remaining old propane tank, now empty, and installed the second new tank. I had to do some modifications to the regulator mounting bracket. Well, actually, I removed the regulator mounting bracket and custom fabricated a new one. I also reinstalled the newly reupholstered sun visors back into Obie ( the SUV ).
At 3:30 PM Joanne headed to the Humane Society. Yesterday she made a proposal to the foster co-ordinator. She ( Joanne ) wanted to bring Emma the cat to our home on a temporary / foster basis to provide Emma with some much needed TLC. Joanne first saw Emma last week before we left for Palm Springs. It obviously did not make sense to offer to foster Emma just before we left for a four day trip. But Emma was still there in the cat adoption wing yesterday, and was in even worse shape than she had been a week before. Emma is a thirteen year old dark grey tabby, female, long haired. And very matted. And very skinny. Joanne wants to remove the matts / tangles from her hair, with a brush and / or scissors, as necessary, and .... fatten her up a bit. So ... this afternoon she returned to the Humane Society as requested yesterday by the foster
co-ordinator, and made arrangements to be Emma's "foster mommy". On her way back from the Humane Society she went to Wal-Mart and purchased necessary food and supplies.
Emma's intake records indicate that she had previously lived with a dog. And that was obvious as soon as she met Bo. She's unconcerned about Bo's presence. She drank a lot of water tonight, and ate a bit. She needs to eat more than she has been. Hopefully being back in a home environment will help that to happen. After having her in our home for about the last six hours or so my cat allergies have not flared, despite her being long haired, so my ability to tolerate her looks promising. I guess we'll see what happens after she spends a night in bed with us. Wish me luck !
Thursday ; Sunny and mild. Joanne baked eggs and potatoes in the Sun Oven today to make a potato salad for a picnic this weekend.
Emma spent last night in bed with us, but she slept poorly, waking us up repeatedly with her restlessness. However, we made some progress with getting her to eat today. By the end of the day her spirits were improved. She ate and drank a bit today. She slept quite a bit during the day. She needed food and sleep. She is SOOOOO scrawny and bony !
This afternoon I inspected the work recently done on Obie by Yepez Automotive. I was dismayed to find that one of the upper ball joint mounting bolts, and its nut and lock washer, were mangled during installation. What sloppy workmanship, and the result of using power tools too big and too powerful for the size of hardware being installed, a common problem in automotive servicing. It was very difficult to remove the mangled bolt, lock washer, and nut. And then I did not have a replacement. I "borrowed" a replacement bolt and nut from our friend / neighbour Larry.
I also spent quite a bit of time over at a neighbour's, sorting through some items she has asked me for help selling. He has Alzheimer's, she's had a stroke, they no longer have a motorhome and towed car, but they have some very expensive towed car tow bar equipment and brake control equipment, etc.
This evening I summarized our 2016 medical expenses for income tax purposes.
Friday ; Sunny, windy, chilly.
Joanne went to bed last night upset with the lack of progress made getting Emma to eat.
Late this morning we headed east to The Foothills to run errands. While I shopped at Al's RV Supplies monthly 15% off customer appreciation day Joanne went to the nearby 99¢ Only Store. When I was finished shopping ( and eating my free donut ) at Al's RV Supplies I joined Joanne at the 99¢ Only Store. We bought some cat treats, canned cat food, and canned tuna for Emma. We drove down the street a short distance to Fry's where I refilled Obie with fuel at Fry's Fuel Bar then we went inside Fry's to do some grocery shopping. After Fry's we headed west back towards home. We stopped at
The Foothills Wal-Mart shopping mall and had a late lunch at Del Taco before going
Wal-Martin'. I bought a new battery for Obie. Last stop on the way home was Wally's World where I bought some hardware.
Back at home Joanne was thrilled to find that the cat treats she had bought were a big hit with Emma. Finally ... she was eating enthusiastically. It doesn't matter that it's "junk food". As long as some nutrition gets into her ! Otherwise ... all we're doing is providing "palliative care". Late in the evening Joanne cooked a turkey liver ( from our Christmas turkey ) that she had almost forgotten about. BINGO ! Another big hit with Emma ! She ate a fair amount of cat treats, and some turkey liver, and drank quite a bit of water today. WHEW ! Some meaningful progress ! Joanne brushed her a bit. Her spirits improved. When I was eating a bowl of ice cream after supper she caught a whiff of it, jumped up on the table and came over to ask for some. Go ahead ... knock yourself out, Emma. HA HA HA ! She quite enjoyed eating ice cream out of my bowl. Bo was indignant that he didn't get the same opportunity. Joanne was a bit annoyed at me. HEY ... it's YOUR cat and she needs to eat. HA HA HA !
Saturday ; Sunny, windy, cool.
This afternoon we took Emma back to the Humane Society for a FVRCP booster shot. She doesn't like travelling in the car, in a pet carrier. And she certainly did not like being at the Humane Society again. I hope we don't have to eventually return her there. We are beginning to discuss the possibility of adopting her, or fostering her until we find someone who may be interested in adopting her, although potential adopters of thirteen year old cats are pretty few and far between. Again today she showed improvement. She is eating better. She is drinking water regularly. She has "claimed" our rocker recliner as "hers". Possibly because it's the only seating / sleeping surface in our fifth wheel trailer that doesn't have a lot of Bo smell on it. She's showing more confidence and contentment.
And ... today we received an e-mail updating us on Molly, the little dog that we rescued ( as KayDee ) here at Kofa Ko-op five years ago. Her adopter sent us photos and an update on how well she is doing, and how much she is loved, five years later. How heart warming ! And encouraging ! It inspires us to work even harder to "save" Emma.
Joanne went grocery shopping by herself. I worked on a propane problem. And I took an empty propane tank to be refilled. I barbecued chicken for a picnic lunch tomorrow. We walked two laps around the dog park, twice today. I went bicycling at dusk. I spent the evening working on year end investment file updates and analysis. 2016 was an okay year in the stock markets, finishing strongly. I worked on setting up an inventory list spreadsheet of some specialized equipment I am going to try to sell on behalf of a neighbour who needs help.
DSK
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